


One Shots Of Life At The Gallagher's

by TheHappyGeek



Series: Shamelessly Fixed Up Stories [4]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, hairstylist!mandy, professor!Lip, weird au that will make sense if you read everything else in this series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2018-10-29 03:12:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10845297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHappyGeek/pseuds/TheHappyGeek
Summary: This is a collection of One Shots from the life of Mandy and Lip. This is a fix-it. Lip did well in school and did go become an alcoholic but not as severe as in the show. Mandy is successful as well.Disclaimer: It's a little confusing because the time lines jump around so at times it's set during the show linear story and other times it's twenty or ten years later. It's a collection so it's not linear for the most part, but everything is dated. It might also be helpful to read One Shots of Life at The Milkovich's too because of the way that they are almost layered over each other in some ways.Rated E because some chapters (not all) will have explicit sex (but it will always be labeled as such).





	1. Back Together

**Author's Note:**

> Shameless U.S. is a trademark of Showtime, story and original characters are copyright 2017  
> by Mingus1 and itsgallavichbitch, all rights reserved.

**September 29th 2018**

  


Mandy sat in her chair, her knees pulled up to her chest as she feasted on her salad with grilled chicken strips and talked with Julian, the hairstylist whose station was right next to hers. They had been talking about some ideas that he had for Mandy’s hair for a portfolio that he had to do.

“You ever thought about growing the bangs out?” He asked as he brought his coffee cup up to his lips. “I mean they’re cute and all, but aren’t they a little childish?”

Mandy laughed. “I’m only twenty one, going on twenty two in two months. I’m practically a baby compared to you.”

He pointed his finger at Mandy and, with a chuckle, refuted her saying, "hey, I’m only thirty one. I’m not that old.”

Mandy snickered and then made sure that the salon was finally clear before she went over to the computer that housed all their music and turned up the pop music louder, a specific collection of Britney Spears, Spice Girls, and Destiny’s Child. She sat back at her station and then picked up her diet coke from the her section of the counter. “I’m getting pregnant.”

“With who?” Julian asked with a chuckle lacing his words as he sipped on his coffee.

Mandy smiled. "My brother and his husband. They asked me a few days ago.”

“And I suppose that you said ‘yes’?” Julian asked as he fixed his hair.

Mandy nodded. "Well, what else was I supposed to do? Say no?” She chuckled. “I want to. They deserve to have more kids.”

“Is this the brother that went to jail?”

Mandy chuckled and brushed her bangs straight. "He went more than once, and yes, it is that brother. His husband is that red headed guy that comes in about every three weeks.”

“No shit? Damn, I wish that he was single. That guy is gorgeous.”

“He is. I mean I totally understand why Mick loves him. They’ve been through a lot of shit together though, like really bad shit that is totally unimaginable.” Julian gave her a look that said ‘tell me more'. "This can’t be talked about after I mention it this time. I’ve told you about my dad-” Julian nodded, he had heard all about Terry. Mandy explained the whole series of events that had taken placed due to Svetlana, finally concluding it with, "It’s a messed up situation, but Yev’s a sweetheart and they love him a lot. I think that having another kid though will help them continue their family through healthy means.”

Julian’s jaw was slack. “I was not expecting that.”

“It’s Terry, people can’t even dream up the bullshit that he does for the most part. But yeah, it was really hard for them, and then when she wasn’t interested in raising the kid, Mickey really stepped it up after a few mistakes. He’s been there for Ian through a lot of stuff. They just always figure it out and they really are meant to be together; they’re the closest thing to soulmates that I’ve ever seen,” Mandy said with a smile as a particular Britney Spears song came on the radio.

Mandy and Julian got out of their chairs and since it was their lunch break, they broke out into dancing and singing along with the track and the following tracks until they heard the jingle of the bells attached to the door.

Mandy immediately went and turned down the music as Julian went to the desk to assist the customer that had come in. She adjusted the dials and then changed playlist to something a little bit more relaxing as she drummed the fingers of her left hand against the desk in the back room. When she finished up changing the music, she fixed her hair in the mirror and then made sure her eyeliner was okay and that she didn’t look like a hot fucking mess.

She sat back at her chair and groaned a little. Wednesday afternoons were always the slowest and it would get boring around the salon. She tapped away at her phone until she heard Julian. “Mands, someone’s here to see you.”

Mandy nodded and looked up only to see the one and only Lip fuckin’ Gallagher. Her face went pale and she held her breath for a moment before speaking, “Lip?”

He looked a little exhausted and fairly frumpy in his suit. "Hey, Mands.”

“Is there something that I can do for you?” She asked as she stood up from her chair.

Lip shook his head. “I was told that I would find you here.” He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "Fuck, Mandy, I fucked up. I didn’t mean to be such a douche last time we dated, and I’m really fucking sorry. I’m sorry for never thanking you for getting me into U of C and that I never was there for you. Fuck, I fucked up so bad, Mands. All I ever really wanted was you; all I want is you. I got my addiction under control, because I want to be with you, I know that you’re the only fuckin’ girl for me, and that it’s probably too fuckin’ late.” His lips trembled a little and he was on the verge of tears.

Mandy knew that he was actually showing emotion, something that she had wanted so badly in their relationship, because he was sober and because he really did care about her and about what she had done for him.

“Lip, you know that you mean a lot to me, you’re my best friends brother and my brother is his husband, but we happened a long time ago. We were together a long time ago, and we’ve changed. You’re getting out of the south side. I know that you got offered a fellowship and a place in the doctoral program at M.I.T.” She held onto Lip’s hand. “You’re on to bigger and better things. You don’t need me dragging you down.”

Lip squeezed her hand. “Mands, you’re not going to drag me down. You’ll keep me up without even trying.” He sighed. “Please, Mandy, give me one last chance to make this right. I don’t want to regret never asking you and not telling you that I want to try again. That is, if you’ll let me.”

Mandy bit her lip and thought about it for a second. “We can try again, but we have to go on a date, and if we do end up proceeding, we need to take things a little slower.”

Lip’s face lit up and he smiled. “I’m okay with that. Fuck, Mandy, thank you so much. You won’t regret this. Thank you.” He squeezed her hand. “Are you free tonight?” He asked.

Mandy nodded. “I think I can make it work.”

Lip smiled, excused himself, and apologized for interrupting her work, she said that it was no problem, and he told her that he would pick her up around six in the evening and Mandy gave him her apartment address.

  


Three hours later, Mandy finished up with her last client and then threw on her lightweight jacket and headed out for the night. Her apartment was a mere two blocks away and so it didn’t take long for her to get home. She showered, cleaned herself up, and then put a black dress on and swept on some makeup.  She was finishing up her makeup when there was a knock at her door. Mandy got her shoes on and then went to the door. She opened it. "Hi.”

Lip smiled, he was cleaned up quite a bit and he looked a lot happier. "Hi, Mandy. You look beautiful.”

Mandy chuckled and pushed her hair behind her ear. "Where do you want to go? And thank you.” She smiled and grabbed her purse from the table near the door to her apartment before slipping out of the apartment and then shutting the door and locking it behind her.

“You really do look pretty, Mandy.” He stuffed his hand in his pocket in an attempt to make sure that he wasn’t going to try to jump the gun and try to hold her hand.

Mandy smiled once more. "So, when do you leave for M.I.T.?”

“Already left, technically. I was asked to come back to Chicago for a conference at U of C with my boss, I took the night off, but I head back tomorrow though, just in time to go back to working on my PhD. Since I got my masters, some of that work kinda counts or something, but I plan to finish in about three years or so. Shouldn’t be too difficult to plan a research experiment and then write a dissertation, I could take five years if I really wanted, or up to ten, but don’t think that I want to get my PhD at thirty four. I don’t really see a point to that,” He said as they went down the stairs to the apartment building. "So, what have you been up to?”

Mandy smiled as they hit the lobby floor. "Well, I got licensed, I started working, I moved out, and now I’m going to be carrying our niece or nephew in a matter of months hopefully, depending on the time that it takes me to get pregnant.” She opened the door to the lobby and let Lip out first.

Lip’s face said it all, he was shocked by what Mandy had just told him. "Really?”

“Yes, Mickey and Ian asked me the other day, and I agreed. It’s just a matter of pumping your brother's sperm into my body and then seeing if they’ll befriend my egg.”

Lip nodded. "And that doesn’t bother you? Renting out your womb to your brother and my brother and also having a kid with them?”

Mandy shook her head. "No, not at all. It’s actually really nice that they asked me. I appreciate it. They trust me with their baby, and I think that they should be able to have more kids, and no, I'm not going to be the mom.”

“But it's gonna be Ian's sperm and your egg?” Lip asked, he was genuinely curious.

Mandy opened the main door of the apartment building. “Yep, that's the only option and then it'll be related to both of them."

“When are you guys starting to try?” Lip asked as he fiddled with a paper in his pocket.

Mandy smiled and rested her hand on her belly for a brief second. "Two weeks, when I ovulate again. Then we start testing ten days past that.” She chuckled. "So, I could potentially get pregnant in two weeks or so, if everything goes according to plan.”

Lip nodded as they strolled down the streets of the south side. "Want to go to that diner down the street?”

Mandy smiled. “I don’t see why not.”

Lipp nodded. "So, what else has been going on?”

“Well, I’m sure you know that Terry’s in jail again. He kicked the shit outta a cop a few months back and it took them awhile to find him.” She sighed. Her father had always been one of her greatest haunts for her entire life and she hated him more than anything else in the entire world, and for good reason. “I gave up trying to rehab the old house, and we got an offer from a real estate company for a good price, and so we sold it.” She kicked a stick as they walked. “It was a shit hole anyways.” She fiddled with her fingers. “It’s not there anymore, they knocked it down and the lot’s being built on, supposed to be done in May of next year.”  She smiled. It was a nice thing for her to know that the house of horrors was officially gone; that all the terrible memories in that place were still there, but that the house wasn’t and that she never could see it again in person. “Tell me about school, is it cool?”

Lip chuckled. "About as cool as school can be.” He pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips before pulling out a zippo lighter and lighting the end. He took a drag and held it in. "Kinda fun though.” He exhaled. "I get to take the classes that I wanna take and not the others, which is kinda fun. After next year, I’ll be able to move back here and be able to do my classes from Chicago.”

Mandy smiled. "Cool. What’s the area like?”

“It’s pretty nice, you would like it a lot. There are a lot of museums and Boston isn’t far at all, like a eighteen minutes away.”

Mandy smiled. "It sounds really nice.” She bit her lip. “Lip?”

Lip turned his head in her direction. “Yes?”

“Lip...” She took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you a lot.” She stopped walking and faced him putting her hand on his bicep. “I’ve really really missed you-" She held her breath for a moment and then put her hands on the sides of Lip’s head and looked into his eyes. “-And I just want to-” Her lips suddenly collided with his. She kissed him fairly aggressively and he kissed back aggressively, their fingers tangling in each other’s hair.

Mandy broke the kiss after a few seconds and looked Lip in the eyes, their hands still in each other’s hair. “I’m sorry. That was really inappropriate.”

Lip’s hands came to the sides of Mandy’s face. "Mandy, that was amazing. I haven’t felt-” He took one of Mandy’s hand and placed it on his chest, right above his quickly beating, nearly pounding, heart. “-That in forever. I feel fuckin’ alive, Mandy.” His thumb stroked the side of her face. “I’ve fucking missed your fuckin’ awesome aggression when you kiss like that. It’s so amazing, so fuckin’ amazing.”

Mandy bit her lower lip and smiled softly. “Fuck, can we go back to my place after dinner? I understand if you don’t want to, but I would really like that.”

“I would like that too. Does this mean that we don’t have to take things slow or-?” Lip asked as Mandy held his hand and they continued walking.

Mandy nodded. "Not too slow. Sex is fine, but the whole ‘get very close’ thing might take awhile.”

Lip nodded for he was glad to at least get a second chance to make things right.

They talked about their lives over the past few years since they had dated and they talked about each other and how things had ended. In the end, they both got closure for what had happened and they decided to enter a new chapter of their lives together, because they both had grown in tremendous amounts since their breakup. Lip and Mandy wanted to at least try.

After a filling meal, Lip and Mandy walked back to her apartment.

“Do you have condoms?” Mandy asked as she held onto Lip’s hand. “I haven’t had sex in forever, so I don’t have any.”

Lip shook his head. “I haven’t been active in any sex related stuff for awhile. We should go to the pharmacy.” He squeezed her hand and smiled.

“Lip Gallagher being celibate. Well, that is something I never thought I would ever hear.” Mandy laughed. “Yeah, we can go to the pharmacy.”

They stopped on the way back to Mandy’s apartment and bought a pack of twenty condoms, and then headed back to her apartment.

“Sorry if it’s not super clean,” Mandy said as she pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. “I’m not home a lot during the day and so I typically come home and hate being on my feet any longer.”

Lip chuckled. "Trust me, you should see my place, nothing can be as bad as a grad student’s tiny apartment.”

The door to Mandy’s apartment opened and they went inside. It was pretty damn clean in Lip’s opinion.

“Mands, I don’t know what the fuck you were talking about, but this place is really clean.”

Mandy grabbed Lip’s hand. "Sure it is. Let’s go to my room,” She said with a smile and a bite of her lower lip. She playfully pulled Lip to the bedroom and closed the door so that she could push Lip against it. She pinned him to the wall holding his wrists and putting his arms above his head before kissing him roughly.

Mandy and Lip both felt all their sexual feelings for each other come back in that instant and somehow they both knew that they were going to last this time.

“Keep your hands up there, Lip,” Mandy said as she swiftly let him go.

Lip did so as Mandy roughly undid his pants and yanked them down along with his underwear, allowing them to reach the floor before she used her hand to grab his cock and began stroking it fairly aggressively. "Fuck, Lip. I’ve fuckin’ missed this.”

Lip sighed and Mandy used her other hand to cup his balls and pull down his scrotum ever so slightly. “I’ve missed this too, Mandy.”

Mandy’s fingers left Lip’s cock and she traced his muscular chest through his shirt. “You’ve always had one of the best bodies I’ve ever seen.”

Lip chuckled. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yes, now, get on the bed and we can fuck,” She said with an evil smile, her hand smacking Lip's thigh.

Lip smiled and then got on the bed, Mandy laid down on the bed and then chucked a condom at him. “Ready?”.

Lip stripped his shirt off and finished getting naked, he then quickly got the condom on, and he helped bring Mandy's knees up to her chest. He pushed up the hem of Mandy’s dress up to her stomach and smiled as he pulled down her black lace panties and dropped them on the floor. He then positioned himself and slid in making a drawn out, “ah” noise as he threw his head back.

“Lip, fuck me,” Mandy said as she grabbed his hips and started pushing him in and out of her.

Lip aggressively fucked Mandy as he lifted her dress up even further, and he pressed kisses on her breasts and gave her little love bites along her neck. “I love you so fucking much, Mandy. You are so fucking gorgeous.” His hands gripped the hem of the dress. "Fuck, I need this completely off.” He slipped it off, dropped it to the floor, and then went back to fucking her and kissing her.

Mandy gasped as Lip pounded her really hard a few times in quick succession, hitting all the right spots and he eventually started rubbing her clit as he fucked her. Soon Lip realized that Mandy was close to coming and he sped up his pace.

Mandy threw her head back against the pillows on her bed and gasped as Lip fucked her good and fast and rubbed her clit hard.

Lip held his breath as he pulled out and came into the condom, still rubbing Mandy's clit. "You gonna cum for me?” Lip asked as he started licking her clit with a few light nips to it every so often.

He stopped for a brief moment, not only to tease her and make her anticipate his return, but to take the condom off and knot it up. Once he had finished getting rid of the condom, he stuck four of his fingers inside of Mandy and started fingering her roughly as he continued playing with her clit with his other hand. His lips kissing Mandy’s smooth pubic area and inner thighs as she pressed her head back into the pillows. "Fuck, Lip, only a few more seconds.” Lip increased his pace and roughness and suddenly Mandy arched her back and let out a loud moan. "Fuck! Fuck!” He continued fucking her with his fingers as she rode out her orgasm. Mandy eventually came down from her climax and went slightly limp. "Fuck, that felt so fuckin’ good,” She said as Lip looked at her and smirked.

He slid his fingers into his mouth and cleaned them off before smiling and inching his way up the bed over Mandy. He kissed her lips and then looked at her. "Fuck, Mandy. You’re so pretty.”

Mandy blushed and jokingly slugged him the shoulder, not too hard though, with a laugh. She then rested her hands on the sides of Lip’s face. "Are you staying the night?”

Lip smiled. “I don’t see why not. I’ll call the guy I’m traveling with and tell him something came up.”

Mandy smiled and nodded before rolling on her side and pulling Lip down to spoon her. “Thank you.” She whispered as Lip wrapped his body around hers and held her close.

“Thank you,” Lip said as he moved her hair out of the way and kissed the back of her neck.

Lip and Mandy both knew fully well that this relationship was going to continue and that they were going to work it out, but also that they both really did want to be together. They both knew that they were meant for each other.


	2. Curb Your Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maryellen590 (AO3): I was wondering i wouldn't mind if you could have Ian show up at the shop that Mandy works at bc i would love to see how Julian drools over Ian haha or with Mickey so he can see this guy and get jealous nothing to deep but it thought that would be cool!

**March 9th 2029:**

 

Mandy put her curling iron down and then fluffed up her client's hair with her hands slightly. "There we go. What do you think?” She asked the brown haired woman in her mid forties.

“It looks lovely, Mandy. Thank you.”

Mandy smiled. "No problem. It was good seeing you Hilda.” She took the cape off the woman and then smiled. "I’ll see you in six weeks.”

Hilda nodded and then tipped Mandy and got up from the chair and went to go pay.

Mandy then checked the clock, it was two o’clock and she had one appointment left.

“Hey, Mands!” Ian walked into the shop and smiled brightly.

Mandy wrapped her arms around Ian. "Hey, E!”

Ian smiled. "How are you?”

“I’m good, very good.” She patted her chair and Ian sat down. "Where’s Mick?”

Ian chuckled. "He’s down the street at the bookstore. He’s trying to find a book for Tori," he explained as Mandy ran her fingers through his hair and messed it around.

“Cool. So, what are we going to do today?” Her hands continued to mess with Ian’s hair.

Ian chuckled. "Just the normal.”

Mandy sighed. "No dying or trying a new style?”

Ian laughed again as Mandy removed her fingers from his hair. "You know that Mick would kill you for doing anything like that.”

Julian had been watching them from his station, admiring Ian’s red hair, thinking about how adorable that man was. "You can’t be a little more adventurous, Red? Sounds like he’s not a good influence.”

Mandy shot Julian an evil look before pointing at Julian. "Keep that pretty mouth of yours shut. This is my brother-in-law you’re talking to, and if you fucking push me, you’ll fuckin’ regret it.”

Julian stepped back and put his hands in the air. "I was just joking.”

Mandy grabbed her clean cape from the counter near the mirror, she opened it and draped it over her brother-in-law, snapping it shut at the band around his neck.

“How’s Luka doing?” Ian asked as Mandy picked up her clippers and tilted his head down before turning them on.

“He’s okay. He smiled yesterday. You should have seen the look on your brother’s face the other day when we noticed,” She said with a chuckle as she started cutting Ian’s hair. "He was shocked, and a little upset.”

“He’s not ready for the second one to be growing up, huh?”

Mandy shook her head. "Nope, he’s definitely not ready,” She said as she started to really take off the back length. “I mean Ava’s three and almost gonna be four and I think that that was alarming to him.” She sighed. “They just grow up so fast.”

Ian nodded. “I know what you mean. I think that Mick will bring Adam in when they finish getting that book for Tori.”

“How is he doing? Adam, I mean.” She asked as she put down the clippers and grabbed her scissors. “I know that he was having some problems at school.”

Ian sighed. "It’s just the same things. He has a lot of social issues. I don’t think that he has even one friend, which is concerning to Mick and I because, well, he’s a sweet kid and he should have friends.”

Julian looked at Ian. "Then you force him to make friends, put him in a room with a bunch of kids and he’ll find someone,” He said with a thick layer of sass to his voice.

Ian’s face went red with anger and he bit his lip to hold his words back.

Mandy then shot Julian a death glare. "Julian, he has Aspergers. It’s not that fuckin’ easy for him.”

Just then the door to the salon opened once more and Mickey arrived with a plastic bag in one hand and holding Adam’s hand in his other. "Hey,”

Mandy smiled. "Hey, guys.” She said as she continued making progress on Ian’s hair.

Mickey sat down in the chair next to Ian’s and sat Adam in his lap.

“Did you find that book for Tori, babe?”

Mickey nodded. “Yeah, took about thirty minutes though. I swear that bookstore isn’t even in alphabetical order. It’s insane.”

Adam got comfortable in Mickey’s lap and rested his head on Mickey’s chest and started to fall asleep just as Mandy started to finish up Ian’s hair. Adam stuck his thumb in his mouth as he slept, and he held onto Mickey’s shirt.

Mandy smiled. "He loves his dad," she said as she unsnapped the cape and then dusted Ian off with his hand. "All done.”

Ian smiled. "Thanks, Mands. It looks great.” He ran his hand against his hair and then he ruffled Adam’s hair. “I think we gotta a move on before Adam really falls asleep.”

Mickey nodded and stood up carefully making sure not to jostle Adam too much so that he would wake up. "See you tomorrow, Mands.”

Mandy nodded. "Yep. Can't believe this guy is turning thirty three in a few months, where has the time gone.” She wrapped her arms around Ian and hugged him.

They said their final goodbyes and then hugged once more before Ian, Mickey, and Adam left.

The shop was empty and Mandy approached Julian. "Dude, what the fuck, that's my brother and his husband. Stop with the jealousy and the comments. He's a married man, and not only married, but married with kids and he's married to my brother.” She huffed as she pressed the tip of her finger to his chest. "That was rude, and we all know that I don't tolerate rudeness. Next time, and I don't care that you are my friend, I will fire you for behavior like that, especially when it's towards people I really give a fuck about. Especially when it's my brother and his husband, and even more so when you outwardly make fun of their son for behavior that he can't control. Even if he didn't have Aspergers, that would still be a rude thing to say to the parent of a struggling child. They work their goddamn asses off to make sure that he gets socialized even a little, they've worked so hard to make sure that he can sometimes talk to people he doesn't know, and you just try to fix their parenting? Bullshit, man, absolute bullshit, especially when it's pertaining to a kid you don't even know, and even more so when it's my nephew, my nephew who I carried.” Mandy pushed her finger into his chest. "Screw you, you should know better.”

Julian put his hands up in the air. "What do you want me to say Mandy?”

“Maybe a 'sorry' would be nice, both to me and to my brother and his husband. Maybe you should think about this and learn your lesson before you come back here, because next time they come in and you pull shit like that, you're fired, and not only when it's my family, if it's anyone else and you act the same, fired. Am I clear?”

Julian gulped and nodded. "Yeah.”

“Good. Curb your jealously at the fuckin' door from now on.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that this was okay. Hopefully posting will start to become a little more frequent since school is starting to wrap up. It also seems like I might be coming out of this horrid writing rut that I've been in for a while, so that's good.


	3. Soccer Player

**August 14th 2023**

 

Mandy groaned and Lip heard it from the bathroom. He washed his hands quickly and then went out to the master bedroom of their apartment. “What’s wrong honey?” He asked as he closed the bathroom door.

“The apartment is too hot,” she whined. “It’s too fucking hot! My feet hurt and I’m fucking huge!” Mandy was laid flat out on the bed with her legs spread. She was only wearing her underwear and her bra. Her pregnant belly was large and the tattoos on her stomach were stretched out. It looked as it should look for the baby being seven months three weeks and two days along. “I’m so uncomfortable. I can’t wait for this to be over.”

Lip nodded slowly. “I know baby.” He leaned down and then turn the extra fan on and made sure that it was pointed at Mandy. “Do you want me to rub your feet?”

Mandy nodded and then handed Lip the bottle of lotion. “Fuck yes.”

Lip smiled and then poured some lotion into his hand and started to warm it in his palms. “I know that this sucks, babe.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t fucking bed bound. Why did the little fucker decide that he was ready to start coming out and make the doctor put me on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy!?” Mandy asked as she threw the sheets off the bed in an attempt to cool down.

Lip nodded sympathetically. “I know it sucks, babe. Just think about when he’s out and how happy Mick and Ian will be.” He sat on the bed and then started to rub one of Mandy’s feet. “You’re so close to being eight months. You’re doing such a good job, babe.”

“I just want them to deliver him already,” Mandy whined softly. She was starting to feel better since the fan had been turned on and since Lip had started rubbing her feet.

Lip then started to rub her calf muscle. “You know that they can’t do that. They want to see if you can make it to eight months. It would be a lot worse for the baby if he was delivered now.” He stopped rubbing her calf and then placed his hand on her belly. “He’ll be out soon, and then we can start our own family,” He said happily, a soft smile crossing his face.

“Not too soon. I love being pregnant sometimes, but this one is givin’ even me a run for my fuckin’ money.” Mandy felt the baby kick and immediately she smiled, her mood shifting. “He knows your voice. He knows that you’re uncle Lip.”

Lip smiled and then rubbed his thumb against Mandy’s belly. “You think so?”

“I know that he does. He starts to really move around when you talk, same with Mickey and Ian,” she said as she tried to relax.

Lip’s hand rested on the side of her belly. “Adam, let’s let Aunt Mandy sleep, alright?” He felt a kick. “Well, I guess that that didn’t work.” He smiled and then laid down next to Mandy, keeping his hand in place.

The baby finally stopped kicking and Mandy relaxed. “Well, somehow you got him to stop.” She then yawned. “It’s going to be really weird when he’s out.”

“I’m gonna miss him a bit. I won’t get to talk to him every day.”

Mandy laughed. “Well, he has to come out some time, and you can’t actually talk to him yet. When he’s here you’ll be able to talk to him and when he learns to talk, you can talk with him.” She kissed Lip’s cheek. “I know that it’s hard since he isn’t ours, but I’m caring him for Mickey and Ian. He’s always going to be our nephew, he’s just not our son, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a relationship with you.”

“I know, but it’s a little weird that you’re giving birth and it’s not our kid, he’s not our kid, but that at the same time, I want him to be Ian and Mickey’s because I know that he is technically their kid.” Lip ran his hand through his hair and then looked at Mandy. “They’re gonna be really happy, and I will be too, but I’ll also be a little sad.”

“You’ll get to see him, Lip,” Mandy said as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I promise that you will. We see Mickey and Ian and the kids all the time and I don’t think that that will change anytime soon.”

Lip nodded. “I guess you’re right, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be hard.”

Mandy nodded and then held his hand. “I know, and that’s fine. It’s going to be a day with a lot of different emotions and that’s perfectly fine. I’m a little sad that he’s gonna come out, even though he’s a true kicking terror, like fuck this kid should be a soccer player.”

“Maybe he will be.”

  



	4. Daddy's Little Princess

**August 30th 2026**  


Lip sat in the sun porch with the door that led outside wide open and his daughter balanced on his knee as he graded papers. He held onto Ava tightly with one hand, making sure not to let the almost one year old fall as he paid attention to grading. It was a bright sunny Saturday in August, Mandy was at work doing what she did best, as Lip graded and watched their daughter.

He was just about to finish writing a comment to the student who had written, and plagiarized, a fairly bullshit paper for his computational physics course at University of Chicago. He made a note to himself in his phone that he was going to have to email the Dean about the incident. He hated having to strip a person of their grad work, but it was customary due to the fact that if someone could write their own papers, they obviously couldn’t handle the graduate degree since they hadn’t learned the most menial thing when a person writes, how to cite and how to not plagiarize. 

He hadn’t slept well the previous night, so he was grading half asleep. It was due mostly to Ava’s crying, which had resulted in having to co-sleep, a concerning thing to Lip because he was terrified that she would wake up in the middle of the night and crawl off the edge of the bed. Mandy had said it was fine on occasion and so they had decided to try it for the first time since she was able to crawl, but Lip had been worried, so he had stayed awake, watching his daughter to make sure she was safe. 

On this particular afternoon, one of his grad students had a rather pressing question, and so Lip had offered for the guy to come over and get his question answered around one o’clock. It was currently thirty five minutes past noon, so he finished writing his comment, grabbed his computer and his daughter, and then went to the kitchen. 

He gently placed his computer on the kitchen table and then slipped Ava into her highchair. He smiled at her and tickled her small feet, “time for lunch, I think. Hmm? Is that right, Ava?” He cooed. Ava smiled and Lip smiled back, his hand smoothed Ava’s soft light brown hair and then kissed the top of her head. “Alright, daddy’s gonna get you some food.” He double checked to make sure that she was safely in her highchair, and then went to the fridge.

Lip got a bottle of pre-pumped milk from the top shelf of the fridge and then put the contents into a microwave safe glass and set the microwave to 30 seconds. He waited for the milk to heat up before testing it against his wrist and then giving it to Ava.

Ava was able to hold the bottle herself and so she sat there and drank her milk happily as her daddy watched her carefully.

Lip and Mandy had never thought that Lip would be the anxious parenting type, but he was. He never wanted his little girl in danger that he could prevent, and so he was a little hovery for the time being, but he still let her do her own thing. 

The doorbell rang just as Lip had started to peel a banana to give to Ava as a little dessert. He abandoned the banana on the counter and then headed to the front door and unlocked it, “hey, Kyle. Come in.” He stepped away from the doorway and let the guy inside the house. “Sorry the house is a mess, things have been a little hectic.” He closed the door behind Kyle. “Do you want a beer?”

“Sure, thanks, Lip.”

Lip smiled and nodded and then locked the door once more. “My daughter’s in the kitchen. Would you mind if we sat in there?” 

Kyle shook his head in response. “No, I don’t mind at all.”

Lip led Kyle into the kitchen and then finished peeling the banana at the table. “Sorry, I was in the middle of feeding her some lunch.”

“No problem.” Kyle smiled and waved at the young girl. “How old is she?”

Lip gave his bright blue eyed daughter her banana, placing it on the tray of her highchair before getting up and getting beers and returned to the table, “she’s about to turn one.” He ruffled his daughter’s soft brown hair that was starting to get a little curl to it. He sat back down and tickled Ava’s feet once more, making her laugh. He turned his attention back to Kyle. “So, what’s your question?”

They talked for about an hour until finally Lip finished answering a question on how to use three different equations. Normally he wouldn’t offer to meet with students on the regular, typically it was his TA who would cover the tutoring and questions, but if a student asked him personally, he was always willing to help.

Lip balanced Ava on his knee, “do you have any other questions?”

Kyle shook his head and they said their goodbyes and he left. 

Mandy came home around four o’clock in the afternoon when Ava was sleeping on Lip’s chest.

“Hey,” She whispered with a smile once she saw the sight of her husband and her daughter, “hold on, I really gotta take a picture of this.” She snapped a photo with her phone. “You two look so cute together.” She put her phone away and sat next to Lip and smoothed Lip’s hair out of his face. “I was thinking of having Ian and Mickey over for burgers or something tonight. What do you think?”

“Not tonight, babe. Maybe tomorrow?”

Mandy nodded and pressed a kiss to the back of Ava’s head. “I love you both.” She smoothed Ava’s hair repeatedly for a few seconds, “we should bring her upstairs so that she can get some decent rest.”

Lip nodded and got up from the couch, holding Ava to his chest. “I’ll go put her to bed.”

Mandy kissed his cheek and stood up. “Thanks, Lip. I’ll go get some beers and we can sit outside.”

Lip nodded and kissed the tip of her nose. “Sounds good.”

He took Ava upstairs and into her room. He laid her out on the changing table and then started changing her. Her little eyes fluttered open and she let out a little cry as Lip finished changing her diaper. “Hey, princess. I know you’re cold, but I had to change you, and once I do you can go back to bed.” He pulled out a onesie from the drawer below the changing table and quickly changed her into it before picking her up and pressing her against his chest as she started to cry. He slowly rocked his hips side to side and soothed her. “Shhhh, Ava, you can go back to sleep now. Daddy’s got you. Daddy’s got you.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’ve got you, sweet girl.” He jostled her a little, he grabbed a swaddle and laid it in the crib, he laid her on top of the muslin blanket covered with little butterflies on it. He swaddled her up and kept his fingers stroking his hair slowly as he grabbed her pacifier and slid it into her mouth. He kissed the top of her head and then turned out the light and headed downstairs to find Mandy.

Mandy was sitting on the patio with a glass of beer in her hand and another beer on the table. “Did she go down easily?”

“Easily enough. She really was not happy when I woke her up while changing her, but then she went back to sleep after a few minutes of cuddling,” Lip said as he sat down next to Mandy. “Hard to believe that she’s gonna be one in only a few weeks,” he sighed. “Where has the fuckin’ time gone?” He took a swig of his beer. “It feels like she was born yesterday.”

“It doesn’t feel like she was born yesterday as I would be in a lot more pain, but time has definitely sped up and she’s not very interested on refraining from growing.” Mandy smiled brightly, thinking of their daughter who they loved so very dearly. “She’s just such a happy girl.” She took a sip of her beer. “She really has a connection with you, Lip. She’s definitely daddy’s little girl.”

“Has been since before she was even born, even more so since she was born.” He smiled when he thought of that. 

After not having a dad in either of their lives due to drugs, alcohol, jail, or all three, it had been really important to Lip and Mandy that they really made the effort to bond with their daughter and that they would be able to give her the childhood that they had never had. Lip had even done all his research before Ava was born so that he knew exactly what to do if she felt sick, ways to calm a baby, and pretty much everything that he could read off the internet or from books from the local library, but the majority of their skill as parents, came from directly caring for their daughter. 

“She already starting to become a lot like you, certainly looks like you. She has your lips,” Mandy said as she checked her phone. “So, how was your day?”

“It was okay. That student came and I managed to give him the answer he needed, students are plagiarizing quite a bit, which means that they’re gonna be dropped from the graduate program.” He laughed. “If you’re gonna cheat, don’t do it in grad school, ‘cause they fuckin’ kick you out.”

Mandy laughed. “That’s the type of thing I would expect from U of C.” She smiled and played with her wedding ring.

Lip smiled at his gorgeous wife and then took a swig of his beer. “How was your day?” 

“It was okay. I had too many appointments because Anita fucking walked out again.” She took a swig of her beer. “I’m firing her tomorrow. I’ve told her a thousand times that I can’t work all day every day, just she just won’t fucking listen. Apparently the fact that I have a one year old doesn’t mean anything to her and the fact that I fucking pay her to come in doesn’t either,” Mandy ranted as she gripped her beer bottle in frustration.

Lip held her free hand. “Fire her. She’s not doing her job and forcing it on you, that’s not what she’s getting paid for.” 

“I know. I know. I just feel bad about firing people.”

“Mands, you’re gonna have to fire someone at some point or another. Luckily, you haven’t had to yet, but from the sounds of it, this woman is a real bitch. If she was working for me, I would fire her super fast, but it’s your choice.”

Mandy nodded. “I’m definitely firing her tomorrow. She just doesn’t take me seriously at all. Anyways, I have a bunch of new clients, which is always good. I might be able to raise the prices again soon, which means that maybe we can take a vacation sooner than originally planned,” she said with a smile. 

“Depends on how many researchers I have over the summer or if I can decide to not have a research program next summer. I might just decide to not do a research program next summer, I’m sure James would take it over for me if anyone wanted to do research.”

Mandy smiled brightly. “You would do that for us?”

Lip nodded and then kissed Mandy’s cheek. “Of course I would. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Mandy thought for a moment and then squeezed Lip’s hand. “Let’s forget dinner.” 

“Yeah, let’s go upstairs.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting in my google drive for a long time... sorry that I never posted this chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at @itsgallavichbitch and also at @geekytrashcan .


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